I asked myself
what I was to do there, now my boat was lost. As a matter of fact, I had
plenty to do in fishing my command out of the river. I had to set about
it the very next day. That, and the repairs when I brought the pieces to
the station, took some months.
"My first interview with the manager was curious. He did not ask me to
sit down after my twenty-mile walk that morning. He was commonplace in
complexion, in features, in manners, and in voice. He was of middle
size and of ordinary build. His eyes, of the usual blue, were perhaps
remarkably cold, and he certainly could make his glance fall on one as
trenchant and heavy as an axe. But even at these times the rest of his
person seemed to disclaim the intention. Otherwise there was
only an indefinable, faint expression of his lips, something
stealthy--a smile--not a smile--I remember it, but I can't explain. It
was unconscious, this smile was, though just after he had said something
it got intensified for an instant. It came at the end of his speeches
like a seal applied on the words to make the meaning of the commonest
phrase appear absolutely inscrutable. He was a common trader, from his
youth up employed in these parts--nothing more. He was obeyed, yet he
inspired neither love nor fear, nor even respect.
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